We did a great job in attack and defence, says Atletico de Kolkata coach Jose Molina

Ten-man Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) scored their first home victory, riding on Iain Hume's late penalty to down Delhi Dynamos 1-0 .

Atletico de Kolkata were reduced to 10 players in the 72nd minute against Delhi Dynamos. (Source: PTI)

Former champions Atletico de Kolkata, who secured their first home win of the season, hoped to maintain the winning run and said their primary target now was to make the playoffs of the Indian Super League football.

“We won a great match, I’m absolutely happy for the team. Delhi had a lot of chances to score. But the ball was not on target. We did a great job in attack and defence,” ATK head coach Jose Molina told reporters after their 1-0 win against Delhi Dynamos.

“We want to win three points, going to top of the table is not the first thing in mind at the moment. The target is to qualify for playoffs,” he said ahead of their match against Mumbai City FC on October 25.

Goalkeeper Debjit Majumder pulled off three stunning saves before Prabir Das made a save near the goalline as ATK put up a brilliant defence.

ATK were reduced to 10 players in the 72nd minute and moments later Delhi Dynamos’ Marcelo Leite Pereira missed a penalty and they were lucky to get a penalty in the 76th minute that proved to be the turning point as Iain Hume scored from the spotkick.

Full praise for Majumder, he said: “Debjit had a great performance. He’s working and improving every day. I’m absolutely happy for him. He is proving everyone and he proved today that he’s a great goalkeeper.”

Molina also said their Spanish midfielder Javi Lara was down with fever and it remains to be seen whether he’s fit for Mumbai.

“Lara had fever and vomited. He’s not training last two days.”

Delhi coach Gianluca Zambrotta and captain Florent Malouda said their inability to ‘kill’ the game cost them as they lost to ATK for the first time in five appearances across three seasons.

“We have to learn how to kill the match early. We have had a lot opportunities but could not score. Hope we can learn from this and play better next time,” the Delhi coach said.

Malouda said: “We are not happy with the result. It’s a difficult moment for us going back with zero point. But there’s still a long way to go. There would be many more opportunities.”